Tomato Growers

WASHINGTON -- Florida's top agriculture official hopes to convince Congress next week that the state's tomato growers deserve compensation for losses suffered during a weeks-long investigation into the safety of their crop. At best, it's a long shot. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration -- after initially blaming tomatoes -- eventually found no evidence they caused a salmonella Saintpaul outbreak dating to April. But the two-month investigation -- and a June 7 FDA warning that prompted restaurants and supermarkets to stop selling fresh tomatoes -- caused an estimated $100 million in losses for Florida farmers, who produce about half of the nation's supply of fresh tomatoes.

Deloris Harris stopped buying tomatoes a month ago. "I love tomatoes, [but] I was leery," the Winter Park woman said as she shopped recently at W.P. Produce in Winter Park. Now that the government has cleared tomatoes as the source of a nationwide outbreak of salmonella, the Winter Park woman is back to buying one of her favorite salad fixings. But as shoppers and restaurants slowly resume their use of tomatoes, growers in Florida and elsewhere are trying to rebuild a market decimated by the short-lived scare.

After former U.S. Labor Secretary Raymond Donavon was acquitted on corruption charges in 1987, he asked, "Which office do I go to to get my reputation back?" That's a ripe question now for Florida's tomato growers. About six weeks ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration pointed to fresh tomatoes as the likely source of a nationwide salmonella outbreak and warned consumers to avoid three popular kinds. It wasn't until last week that the agency declared all tomatoes in fields and stores safe to eat. This week, it finally found the bacteria -- on a Mexican-grown jalapeM-qo pepper.

WASHINGTON -- Turf struggles, bad communication and weak leadership undermined the federal response to a recent salmonella outbreak that cost the tomato industry a bundle, witnesses told a House subcommittee Thursday. Lawmakers joined farmers in a wholesale attack on the Food and Drug Administration's performance, potentially laying the political foundation for a regulatory overhaul and multimillion-dollar compensation package. "We have been the primary injured party," Reginald Brown, the executive vice president of the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, told the House panel, "and we look forward to Congress addressing that in the future."

Remember the poem The Charge of the Light Brigade?''On again, on againRode the six hundred . . .''Rudyard Kipling's verse came to mind the other day as Ray Gilmore, communications chief for the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, told me about his members' fight with Mexico.The Florida vegetable farmers, particularly the tomato growers, are battling for their industry's survival. Mexico's farmers, whose growing season mirrors Florida's, are stealing the U.S. winter vegetable market.

Faced with the likelihood of more competition from Mexico, the Florida tomato industry may continue to dwindle in size, an industry official in Orlando predicts.A legal challenge by growers against Mexico's high volume of tomato exports to the United States so far has failed.The U.S. International Trade Commission recently denied a request by Florida growers for provisional relief in the form of higher tariffs, or taxes, to slow Mexico exports.Florida growers asked that 50 percent tariffs be applied on Mexico's winter tomatoes.

There is a good chance that consumers in Florida and other U.S. markets will be hearing about the Florida tomato in the next few years.Florida tomato growers recently approved a plan to voluntarily raise money for a promotional program, including paid advertising to promote the industry.Florida is the nation's largest producer of fresh tomatoes, a market that has expanded significantly in recent years as the popularity of fresh vegetables soared along with the growth of restaurant salad bars.

Florida farmers have won a small victory in the simmering tomato trade war with Mexico. U.S. Customs this week began more aggressively imposing higher tariffs on excess tomato imports.But the win is mostly symbolic because the higher tariffs are small and not likely to be of much concern to shippers.Moreover, Monday's freeze has made the issue nearly moot - at least in the short term.Florida farmers who were criticizing Mexico for dumping tomatoes at money-losing prices in the United States have seen prices double in the past three days.

When farmer James Humble looks at the 5,200 acres in southern Dade County known as the Frog Pond, he sees fresh tomatoes in New York on Super Bowl Sunday.Water bureaucrats, politicans, academics and nature activists see the Frog Pond and thousands of acres of South Florida farmland as an environmental heirloom.They want to pay Humble for his land and flood more than 10 percent of the 83,000 acres farmed in Dade as part of a project to restore a natural flow of water in the Florida Everglades.

- TOMATO PROFITS. Freezing weather that damaged Florida's winter tomato crop is contributing to unusually high prices to tomato growers. Farmers are getting more than double the price they received a year ago. Florida tomato growers recently were receiving about $18 per 25-pound box of tomatoes, up from last year's level of $8, according to industry trade groups. Florida historically produces most of the fresh tomatoes consumed in the United States during the spring. But the amount of tomatoes that Florida growers ship out of state has dropped drastically compared with a year ago. In the last three weeks of April 1988, Florida shipped 93,000 tons of tomatoes out of state.

WASHINGTON -- Florida's top agriculture official hopes to convince Congress next week that the state's tomato growers deserve compensation for losses suffered during a weeks-long investigation into the safety of their crop. At best, it's a long shot. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration -- after initially blaming tomatoes -- eventually found no evidence they caused a salmonella Saintpaul outbreak dating to April. But the two-month investigation -- and a June 7 FDA warning that prompted restaurants and supermarkets to stop selling fresh tomatoes -- caused an estimated $100 million in losses for Florida farmers, who produce about half of the nation's supply of fresh tomatoes.

After former U.S. Labor Secretary Raymond Donavon was acquitted on corruption charges in 1987, he asked, "Which office do I go to to get my reputation back?" That's a ripe question now for Florida's tomato growers. About six weeks ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration pointed to fresh tomatoes as the likely source of a nationwide salmonella outbreak and warned consumers to avoid three popular kinds. It wasn't until last week that the agency declared all tomatoes in fields and stores safe to eat. This week, it finally found the bacteria -- on a Mexican-grown jalapeM-qo pepper.

Tomatoes are coming back to grocery shelves and restaurant menus, but state growers say their immediate prospects still look rotten. Consumers -- spooked by a recent government warning that certain kinds of tomatoes might be linked to salmonella -- have shied away, despite assurances from regulators that many types are safe. That has the state's $500 million industry worried sick. "The impact of this is huge," said Rob Meade, director of sales at Mulberry-based East Coast Brokers & Packers, one of the larger tomato growers in the state.

Diners were looking suspiciously at tomatoes Monday after learning certain types were linked to a spreading salmonella outbreak. Last week, federal regulators, who are still trying to identify the source of the tainted tomatoes, warned people in Texas and New Mexico about the dangers of raw tomatoes, and the warning went nationwide during the weekend. That left restaurants, grocery stores and others across Central Florida scrambling to pull the items from their menus and shelves. And the state's tomato growers say they could be in a pickle if the situation isn't straightened out soon.

Industries normally resist tighter government regulation, so Florida's tomato growers deserve credit for recognizing that the time was ripe for a new state inspection program targeting their crop. The program, intended to ensure the safety of Florida tomatoes, is to get started in the fall. It comes on the heels of health scares surrounding tainted food from other states and other countries. For Florida growers facing competition from lower-cost rivals, safety is a strong selling point.

Customers trying to grab a chalupa or burrito for a late lunch at an Orlando Taco Bell on Sunday afternoon were greeted by about 100 protesters wearing costumes, beating drums and chanting in an attempt to drive them away. The group of farm workers, college students, church groups and other activists, led by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, is calling for a national boycott of the fast-food chain. Their reason: It's a major buyer of Florida-grown tomatoes and the group wants it to pressure growers to raise workers' wages estimated at between $7,500 and $9,000 a year.

Industries normally resist tighter government regulation, so Florida's tomato growers deserve credit for recognizing that the time was ripe for a new state inspection program targeting their crop. The program, intended to ensure the safety of Florida tomatoes, is to get started in the fall. It comes on the heels of health scares surrounding tainted food from other states and other countries. For Florida growers facing competition from lower-cost rivals, safety is a strong selling point.

In response to six Immokalee farmworkers on the 14th day of a hunger strike, Gov. Lawton Chiles encouraged tomato growers Friday to begin talks about wages with representatives of the workers. The six workers, ranging in age from 24 to 46, visited the Capitol on Monday to ask Chiles to intervene. Agricultural liaison Ben Rowe visited Immokalee on Wednesday. An average Immokalee tomato worker makes about $9,000 a year, according to Lucas Benitez, a spokesman for the strikers. Several growers in the area will not even talk to the workers.

Bosnia has come to symbolize an intractable situation for which there is no clear answer.The situation of Florida's fruit and vegetable farmers is not much different.Two news stories in the past month illustrate the dilemma:*The wage protests by tomato pickers in the Immokalee area, covered by this newspaper as well as such national papers as USA Today and The New York Times.*The report aired on the CBS news show Public Eye about unsanitary conditions at fruit and vegetable farms in Central America.

In response to six Immokalee farmworkers on the 14th day of a hunger strike, Gov. Lawton Chiles encouraged tomato growers Friday to begin talks about wages with representatives of the workers. The six workers, ranging in age from 24 to 46, visited the Capitol on Monday to ask Chiles to intervene. Agricultural liaison Ben Rowe visited Immokalee on Wednesday. An average Immokalee tomato worker makes about $9,000 a year, according to Lucas Benitez, a spokesman for the strikers. Several growers in the area will not even talk to the workers.